Warp Factor Trek

This episode is an exploration of the psyche through the investigation of a derelict Starfleet vessel. Is this one of Star Trek’s most horrific episodes?

Log Entry

A shuttlecraft containing Kirk, La’an, and Spock finds the long-lost USS Griffin, missing for nine years. The three Starfleet officers board the starship, which appears deserted. Kirk hears a baby crying. The power suddenly comes on, including life support. They see a strange woman who tells La’an she’s been waiting for her… before vanishing.

Spock has detected negatively charged ions, which leads Kirk to suggest there might be a ghost aboard. The group finds phaser markings in a corridor and empty body bags in sickbay. Spock remains in sickbay while La’an and Kirk head to the bridge. On the way, Kirk admits his relationship with Carol failed because she fears he will die in space.

As the newcomers learn from the starship’s computer, the survivor they encountered, security chief Rose Harper, beamed all the other officers off the ship. She had reported erratic, violent behavior amongst the crew.

Spock finds himself locked in sickbay, surrounded by bleeding bodies. One sits up. It’s T’Pring!

Reviewing Harper’s log entries, La’an finds one which addresses her by name. The bridge viewscreen shows the shuttlecraft has been destroyed. In engineering, La’an discovers Harper was trying to contain whatever affected the Griffin.

Kirk becomes obsessed with rescuing his baby son, David; T’Pring shoots Spock; and La’an sees the Griffin crew, who tell her she’s one of them.

Spock finds T’Pring has strapped him to a biobed. Admiring his humanity, she cuts off one of his eartips.

Kirk witnesses the beam-in of Sam, Una, Ortegas, Pike, and Uhura. They are likewise without operational communications.

A turbolift keeps taking La’an to deck seventeen. There, she finds Harper’s quarters, where La’an sees herself on a screen she breaks, infuriated.

T’Pring is mid-operation on Spock. Pike and Una intervene.

Kirk asks Sam how he balances family and Starfleet. Sam says he calls his kids every night. The two men find themselves trapped on the bridge.

La’an beaming Ortegas back to the Enterprise goes horribly wrong. Uhura has to transfer Ortegas into the buffer because La’an apparently tried to fuse her body.

Pike and Una return Spock to T’Pring. The violence continues with Una mutilating herself and Sam being sucked into space.

La’an stabs Kirk. Pike even starts chopping up his own fingers like carrots.

Kirk wants to survive for his son, but La’an makes a sinister prediction about David’s eventual death. She and Kirk are beamed back aboard the Enterprise, La’an brandishing a knife over Kirk until she drops it. Pike notifies Kirk that Sam is on shore leave.

Kirk and Spock’s injuries are healed. Meanwhile, La’an questions Pike about omitting details from his report, including her stabbing Kirk. She says she saw Harper because she considers Starfleet her family. Recalling a haunted barn on his uncle’s farm, Pike tells La’an that space has limitless beauty and terror but that what mattered was her survival.

Uhura gifts Kirk some cookies, before Kirk calls David. La’an, watching the Griffin being towed away by Starfleet, spots Harper in a window, raising a finger to her lips.

Status Report

Star Trek isn’t new to genre-bending sci-fi horror episodes, and crew influenced to act weird is a trope across pretty much every series. Here, it’s executed to great effect. This episode is terrifying, and the fact that the mystery is left unresolved by the end makes it even more frightening.

The lack of resolution and the nature of the episode as almost a bottle show – with La’an, Spock, and Kirk confined – make it somewhat reminiscent of Doctor Who’s acclaimed episode “Midnight”, in which The Doctor is trapped in a train car which is terrorized by a sinister entity that takes control of the passengers. Here, the psychological horror creates an intense atmosphere aboard the derelict vessel. The almost “real time” format of the episode, which takes place over almost an hour in-universe, adds to the tension.

Although the removal of oxygen masks is questionable under the initial circumstances, there are impactful ideas here, producing brutally effective body horror. For example, fusing a person by beaming them into themself is an evocative new transporter horror. The practical effects used in much of the episode really pay off, and as a result, the gruesome nature of the episode makes it one that families would be wise to skip if they’re watching with young audiences, as even adult viewers may find it disturbing.

The episode engages in some noteworthy continuity. Kirk acknowledges he was a boy scout despite his ex, Carol Marcus, claiming the opposite in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. There’s some awkwardness between him and La’an after all their flirting in previous seasons – in particular, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”. Her prediction about David’s demise foreshadows Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Uhura giving cookies to Kirk is a reference to “Lost in Translation”. However, this episode seems original enough and distinguishes itself well with how ambiguous the ending is.

Another strong element of this episode is the psychological journey Spock, La’an, and Kirk each go through. La’an confronting her origins while also recognizing that Starfleet has become her family feels like a bit of a retread of her past storylines surrounding her Augment genes and relationship to Khan. However, this thematic material works well in this episode, so it’s hard to complain, and Harper is a strong foil to La’an. The story also sets up further development for the three characters because, even by the end, their journeys don’t feel resolved.

Overall, this episode is one of the strongest horror-themed stories in Star Trek and does a fantastic job of setting a tone. The pacing is slow and deliberate until it hits fever pitch towards the end of the episode, as the danger continues to escalate. It’s masterfully executed and will likely leave audiences speculating about the mystery for years to come.